By Tom Degun

Samsung Paralympic_busDecember 19 - Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung Electronics are pitching a public relations brief for an international agency to support their sponsorship of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, it has been revealed.


Samsung has been associated with the Olympic Games for almost 25 years - when they were involved in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul - and they have been the Official Wireless Telecommunications Partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1998.

Meanwhile, the wireless telecommunications equipment giant has been a Paralympic Partner since the Winter Games at Turin 2006 and they extended the deal in early 2010 to include London 2012.

Samsung are set to unveil a host of activity around the 2012 Paralympics from the beginning of next year and international agencies in London are currently being briefed ahead of presentations later this month.

The account is estimated at around $500,000 (£322,200/€384,143) while the Paralympic pitch comes shortly after Samsung reviewed its London 2012 Olympic Games public relations programme earlier this year and handed the seven-figure assignment to A&R.

It is thought that A&R, an Edelman subsidiary that already handles several other Samsung assignments, will again contest to handle the work for the Paralympics.

Last year, A&R was selected to handle the company's global smartphone communications after winning its international corporate assignment in 2009.

Weber Shandwick, another Samsung roster agency, are also likely to contest the Paralympic pitch as they currently oversee Samsung's global visual display and its North American corporate and consumer electronics business.

Samsung has a number of high profile individuals working as ambassadors for their London 2012 sponsorships, including former England football captain David Beckham, while the company employs approximately 88,000 people in 89 offices across 46 countries.

They are currently the world's third largest producer of mobile phones in quantity and the second largest producer of mobile phones in sales volume.

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